Nico Porteous (born 23 November 2001) is a New Zealand

freestyle skier Freestyle skiing is a skiing discipline comprising aerials, moguls, cross, half-pipe, slopestyle and big air as part of the Winter Olympics. It can consist of a skier performing aerial flips and spins and can include skiers sliding rails and ...

and an Olympic champion. He is New Zealand's youngest Olympic Games medallist, having won a bronze medal at the

2018 Winter Olympics The 2018 Winter Olympics ( ko, 2018년 동계 올림픽, Icheon sip-pal nyeon Donggye Ollimpik), officially the XXIII Olympic Winter Games (french: Les XXIIIes Jeux olympiques d'hiver; ko, 제23회 동계 올림픽, Jeisipsamhoe Donggye Ollimpi ...

at the age of 16. He became New Zealand's second Winter Olympic gold medallist, and first male, with his win in men's halfpipe at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics.

Early life and family

Porteous was introduced to skiing by his parents and learned to ski in France when he was three years old. He has had a professional coach since he was six years old. Porteous has been home-schooled through

Te Aho o Te Kura Pounamu Te Aho o Te Kura Pounamu or Te Kura (formerly The Correspondence School) is New Zealand's largest school with around 25,000 students enrolled each year, from early childhood to secondary level. It is headquartered in Portland Crescent in Thorndon ...

, as well as studying at Christ Church Grammar School in Perth, Western Australia. His older brother Miguel Porteous is also a freeskier and Olympian, having competed at the

and the 2022 Winter Olympics.

Career

When Porteous was 14, he became the youngest person in the world to land the triple cork 1440 (upside down three times, and four full spins). This has since been beaten by another skier. Porteous was selected to compete at the 2018 Winter Olympics, making him the second-youngest Winter Olympian in the nation's history (behind Alice Robinson). In the men's halfpipe he won the bronze medal, becoming only the third New Zealander (and first male New Zealander) to win a medal at a Winter Olympics. At age 16 years 91 days, Porteous became New Zealand's youngest Olympic Games medallist, breaking the previous record of 16 years and 353 days set by

Zoi Sadowski-Synnott Zoi Katherine Sadowski-Synnott (, born 6 March 2001) is a New Zealand snowboarder, specialising in slopestyle and big air competitions. She won the gold medal in the women's slopestyle and silver in the big air at the 2022 Winter Olympics, b ...

earlier the same day, who had in turn broken the record of 17 years 100 days set by Danyon Loader at the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de 1992), officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XXV Olimpiada, ca, Jocs de la XXV Olimpíada) and commonly known as ...

. His best 2017–18 FIS Freestyle Ski World Cup finish is 6th at

Cardrona Alpine Resort Cardrona Alpine Resort is an alpine resort in New Zealand's South Island. The ski field ranges from 1,260m to 1,860m. The distribution of slopes is 25% beginner, 25% intermediate, 30% advanced and 20% expert. There are 2 detachable quad chairli ...

. In 2019, Porteous claimed the bronze medal in the superpipe event at the Winter

X Games The X Games are an annual extreme sports event organized, produced and broadcast by ESPN. Coverage is also shown on ESPN's sister network, ABC. The inaugural X Games were held during the summer of 1995 in Providence and Newport, Rhode Island, ...

Aspen, Colorado Aspen is a home rule municipality that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Pitkin County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 7,004 at the 2020 United States Census. Aspen is in a remote area of the Rocky Moun ...

. At the 2019 Audi Nines Porteous performed a Switch Alley Oop Double Misty 1080. In 2021, Porteous claimed his first X Games gold medal in the Superpipe event. In January 2022, Porteous won a gold medal in the freeski halfpipe event at the U.S. Grand Prix World Cup event in California, USA. During the 2022 X Games in Aspen, USA, Porteous defended his title by winning gold in superpipe on the final run of the competition. On 19 February 2022, Porteous won the gold medal in the men's halfpipe event at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics. In the

2023 New Year Honours The 2023 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 15 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebratio ...

, he was appointed a

Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have ren ...

, for services to snow sports.

References

External links

Nico Porteous
at Snow Sports NZ * {{DEFAULTSORT:Porteous, Nico Living people New Zealand male freestyle skiers 2001 births Olympic freestyle skiers of New Zealand Freestyle skiers at the 2018 Winter Olympics Freestyle skiers at the 2022 Winter Olympics Olympic gold medalists for New Zealand Olympic bronze medalists for New Zealand Medalists at the 2018 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 2022 Winter Olympics Olympic medalists in freestyle skiing Sportspeople from Hamilton, New Zealand People from Wānaka People educated at Te Aho o Te Kura Pounamu X Games athletes Members of the New Zealand Order of Merit